Computer-based tutoring – with a heart

Education Week reports on a new generation of computer-based tutoring system that incorporate social and emotional support for students using the systems.

Powered by artificial-intelligence technology, intelligent tutors have been around for decades, and some are beginning to make their way into regular classroom use. Cognitive Tutor, one of the oldest and best known of such programs, for instance, now operates in 2,600 schools around the country.

But programming the systems to detect and respond to students’ emotions in the same way that human tutors do is a new wrinkle for the field and one that developers hope will enhance the technology’s educational potential.